Remedy's HealthCentral.com is getting a makeover

Having taken the lead over rivals WebMD and Everyday Health in some measures of patient engagement, Remedy Health is hoping a new-look website can help it further turn the tide in the portal wars.

Remedy's flagship site, HealthCentral.com, is set for a major re-launch in the fourth quarter of this year. It will incorporate what the publisher considers a more attractive design, friendlier site architecture, and other cutting-edge features (a prototype is pictured).

“All consumer health sites are set up in the same confusing way,” Jim Curtis, Remedy's chief revenue officer, told MM&M in an exclusive interview. “In health, people want innovation on a website—responsive design, in-line video. And if you give it to them in a format they're used to using, there's more engagement.”

Remedy already has a leg up when it comes to connecting with its target base. According to Manhattan Research's Cybercitizen Health 2012 survey, it's leading its two major rivals in terms of percent of users who use the internet to prepare for a doctor's visit or when considering switching to a new medicine.

According to Omniture stats, 78% of users' questions are answered by Remedy experts, and visitors are five times more likely to share content from one of these mavens than from non-expert community members.

Nevertheless, it's hoped that the new design cues boost the privately owned firm's digital advertising, which has more than doubled the last two years, Curtis said. “If it's good for the patient, it's good for advertisers.”